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RUConnected
College life can feel overwhelming, with deadlines, meetings, assignments, and events all fighting for attention. Between staying on top of classes and finding time for community, it’s easy to miss opportunities.
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RUConnected brings it all together, helping Rutgers students stay connected, organized, and supported.
Built by students, for students to make life at Rutgers easier.
Project Overview
My Role: UX/UI Designer
Led user research, wireframing, and high-fidelity prototyping. Conducted usability testing to refine the app’s flow and accessibility.
Tools Used
Figma • Miro • Google Forms • Procreate • Canva
The Assignment
Create a centralized app that helps Rutgers students stay organized, connected, and supported in their campus life.
As my first UX project, I explored every stage of the design process.
Here's an inside look...
Understanding the Student Experience
The college experience is supposed to feel social, vibrant, and alive, but for many students, it doesn’t always feel that way.
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In a lecture hall packed with hundreds of people, students shared that they often felt invisible, overwhelmed, or disconnected. Meanwhile, others learning from home appreciated the flexibility but shared how isolating it could be.
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Two completely different environments.
One shared emotion: disconnection.
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Listening to these stories, and reflecting on my own, made something clear:
Whether students learn in person, online, or somewhere in between, many struggle to feel connected to a genuine community.
Research Methods
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Why This Matters
Students are constantly switching between apps, such as Canvas for class updates, Google for reminders, and GroupMe or WhatsApp for communicating with peers. This creates friction and makes it harder to feel a sense of connection. This analysis confirmed the need for an integrated tool designed around the real rhythm of student life.
To bring the research to life, I translated my findings into two student personas each representing a different path through college.
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Key Insights
What Students Are Asking For
Students want a simple platform that makes it easier to stay informed and connected. They’re asking for real-time notifications that don’t get buried in emails and tools that make staying up to date feel simple rather than overwhelming. More than anything, they want an authentic connection without having to use five different apps to stay in the loop.
If students had a mobile-friendly, centralized space where academic and social life worked together, then staying engaged would feel easier, helping them feel more organized, connected, and in control.
Guided by these insights, I began visualizing possible solutions
My First Round of Sketches
I started by sketching out the essential features students said they needed most:
task management, schedules, clubs, chat, and notifications.
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Information Architecture
With early ideas on paper, I mapped out how everything would connect.
The goal was to make the app intuitive and easy to navigate.
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Low-Fidelity Wireframes
This phase helped me visualize structure and identify what screens mattered most, while strengthening my Figma skills through experimenting with layout grids, spacing systems, visual hierarchy, typography, and early component patterns.
Usability Evaluation
I conducted usability testing with five Rutgers students to evaluate whether RUConnected was on the right track. Each participant navigated the prototype, verbalizing their thoughts on what they liked and didn’t.
WAIT!
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Want the Full Picture?
Use this Key!
Towards the end of this project, I found myself constantly noticing small improvements I could make to make it more user-friendly. But if I kept tweaking every detail, I’d never be able to move forward.
Instead of perfecting every element, I’ve left a note on the adjustments I’d make if I had more time—it's all part of the learning process.
Hover over the title to see the hidden details!
In A Rush? That's OK
Here is a Video of the Prototype in Action
or keep scrolling to view the results!
Introducing RUConnected
Your all-in-one student space.
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Onboarding
Not every student remembers their course PIN, so an easier way to connect their course schedule would make life a lot simpler.
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Home
When students enter the home screen, their daily to-do list appears by default. They can collapse it to access the student feed, where they can interact with each other by viewing and sharing posts, seeing updates from organizations, and staying informed on school announcements.
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Tasks
Course assignments automatically pop up on your daily to-do list, making it easy to jump into Canvas and get things done. You can also add work tasks manually to keep everything organized.
Students don’t want to manually add everything, so I’d create a simpler, more user-friendly design. They’d be able to quickly create planners, set custom notifications, and connect their Google, Microsoft, or other calendars—keeping everything in one place.
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Chat
Students can chat with friends, create group chats, join organization chats, and get school-wide notifications—all in one place.
What about students who have trouble finding friends? I’d create recommendations for group chats or add more open chats based on interests to make it easier for them to connect.
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Organizations
Students can join hybrid organizations, where both in-person and virtual members can interact through the app and receive alerts about upcoming events.
This needs a makeover— a more user-friendly interface that gives students easy access to information about organizations directly on the app, so they don’t have to request details. This would make it simpler for them to find ways to connect with each other.
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Profile
On their profile, students can include a short bio to introduce themselves, showcase their skills and developing abilities, and see the courses they've completed, along with the ones left to finish their degree.
Students want to connect beyond school, so I’d include the option to link other social profiles like LinkedIn, Instagram.
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Skills and Achievements
Students can add their skills and achievements to their profile and reflect on their growth throughout their degree.
When students add to their developing skills, it would be great if they were given learning modules on LinkedIn, helpful resources, or class recommendations to continue growing.
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Friends
Students have a friend list where they can add new connections or view their friends' profiles.
Bad with names or searching for new connections? ‘People You May Know’ tab or ‘People With Similar Interests’ tabs can connect more people.
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Search
When students go to search, they need better filter options and personalized recommendations to make finding what they need easier.
Thank you
for viewing my very first UX project!
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This experience taught me core design skills, but it also reminded me that real growth comes from feedback, iterations, and the willingness to keep improving. I’m genuinely grateful for the guidance that helped me bring this project to life.